SRI LANKA: ANTI-CONVERSION BILL STALLED IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 001094 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/07/2018 TAGS: KIRF PHUM CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: ANTI-CONVERSION BILL STALLED IN COMMITTEE Classified By: Charge d' Affaires James R. Moore Reasons: 1.4(b,d). ¶1. (C) After a meeting at the Peace Secretariat (SCOPP) on December 1, Secretary to the Ministry of Human Rights and Disaster Management Rajiva Wijesinghe reported to Charge that the anti-conversion bill currently being debated in Parliament is likely to remain in a standing committee and not come up for a vote. The "Prohibition of Conversions through Unethical Means" bill, first introduced by the Buddhist nationalist JHU party in 2004, would, if passed, provide the government a means to outlaw conversions and harass Christian denominations in the country. Wijesinghe's update to the Charge came after an exchange of letters between the Ambassador and the Secretary in which the Ambassador alerted Wijesinghe to U.S. concerns about the bill calling it "incompatible with the principles of democracy." Subsequently PolChief followed up with an additional letter to Wijesinghe and a working level contact in the MFA. Religious congregations have reported to us that there have been isolated incidents of local authorities attempting to implement the law even though it has not been passed in Parliament. ¶2. (C) COMMENT: The bill, a pet project of the government-aligned JHU party, has been a concern for religious freedom groups in the country and the Embassy for a number of years. Despite isolated news reports earlier this year, the government appears to have no real interest in passing the legislation. Instead, it uses the bill as a tool to keep the JHU within its coalition by hinting that enactment might be possible in the future. Nayomini Weerasooriya, the coordinator of the National Christian Fellowship in SRI LANKA and a trusted source on religious freedom issues, told PolFSN that President Rajapaksa had told the JHU that it was neither the time nor the place for the bill to come up for a vote. Weerasooriya characterized the bill as "sitting in a closet." Post will monitor progress of the bill and continue to raise our objections to its language with the government if it appears Wijesinghe and Weerasoorita are wrong and the bill has not stalled. End Comment Moore